Houston Rockets News - James Harden enters NBA Bubble, Austin Rivers optimistic about Russell Westbrook

It's been a tumultuous week for the Houston Rockets. Superstar point guard Russell Westbrook confirmed that he had tested positive for the coronavirus and there were no concrete updates regarding James Harden's fitness.

Only yesterday was it revealed that The Beard will be traveling to Orlando soon. Putting all speculation to bed, James Harden has now finally entered the NBA Bubble where he will catch up with his teammates after the mandatory 48-hour quarantine period.

The Beard has arrived! 🛬 pic.twitter.com/WrTZMclEDh

— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) July 15, 2020

This will put the minds of a lot of Houston Rockets fans at ease. While Westbrook's future is up in the air, he did reveal his intentions to join his teammates at Disney World once he recovers from the coronavirus. As far as Harden's shape and conditioning go, footage of him shooting hoops at the Toyota Center on Monday did the rounds on social media.

Footage of James Harden working out at Toyota Center #Rockets pic.twitter.com/6ZbdSvXB9i

— Alykhan Bijani (@Rockets_Insider) July 14, 2020

By the look of it, I'm pretty sure James Harden will hit top gear in no time inside the NBA Bubble. In the meantime, Mike D'Antoni was at hand to react to Harden's arrival:

"Really happy that James is here. Now we’ll just wait for the team to be completely whole with Russell and Luc Mbah a Moute. Good first step. I’m just really glad that James is here.”

Austin Rivers on the Russell Westbrook situation

Houston Rockets are without Russell Westbrook in Orlando

The timeline of Russell Westbrook's return is still unclear and his absence is certainly a big loss for the Houston Rockets. Austin Rivers, who was on media duty for the team on Tuesday has a different way of looking at the whole situation. He's looking forward to James Harden and Russell Westbrook joining the team.

"I imagine for most teams, Thursday, by Friday, energy kind of sorts of goes down because of a lot of practices in a row. But when we get James and Russ it’s going to be a whole jolt of energy."

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Austin Rivers shares footage from Houston Rockets' training

Austin Rivers

Austin Rivers was also in control of SLAM's Instagram account and took the opportunity to share a few glimpses of the Houston Rockets' practice session. You can have a look at the same below.

Highlights from today’s #Rockets 5-on-5 practice from @AustinRivers25What stands out to you? pic.twitter.com/P7ehLLIspS

— Alykhan Bijani (@Rockets_Insider) July 14, 2020

The Houston Rockets are getting the reps in for doing what they're best known for...shooting threes! The likes of PJ Tucker and Eric Gordon are already going strong in the early few rounds of practice in Orlando. Austin Rivers himself showed some hops with that quick offensive board and layup.

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